Electronic devices come in a wide variety of shape and sizes. Such devices include cellular telephones, pagers, personal digital assistants (PDA's), music players, set-top boxes, routers, home gateways, etc. In many cases, the device is characterized by a primary service it provides. However, it is often true that such devices perform multiple services. Thus, a cellular phone typically provides wireless phone services, and may also provide wireless access to data services such as email and the internet, and may be combined with calendaring, contact management, games, and other functions, thus performing services similar to those commonly found in a personal digital assistant (PDA).
With the diversity in the feature sets offered by these devices and the significant differences in the respective designs of such devices, devices will vary in their performance levels. A cellular phone may, for example, perform well as a phone device, but may suffer in its performance as a gaming device. Correspondingly, PDA devices may perform well for gaming or networking, but may suffer in other areas.
Manufacturers and others in the chain of commerce of electronic devices typically have certain minimum criteria or specifications a device must meet in order to be deemed acceptable. Once the minimum acceptable performance levels are determined, benchmarks are devised which gather data from the device. The manufacturer or other interested person performs those benchmarks and compares the resulting data with the minimum criteria to determine whether the tested device is acceptable.